Konjunktur: ZEW-Index sinkt erstmals seit fünf Monaten
Die Konjunkturerwartungen deutscher Finanzexperten fallen im Oktober überraschend um 6,6 Punkte auf 28,1 Zähler. Hohe Energiepreise und schwacher Konsum bremsen den erhofften Aufschwung.
Berlin - Financial experts are expressing a more pessimistic outlook on the German economy for the first time in months. The ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for the upcoming six months dropped by 6.6 points to 28.1 in October, marking the first decline after a series of five consecutive increases, according to the Mannheim Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) in a report released on Tuesday.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated a decline to 30.0 points. ZEW President Achim Wambach commented on the setback, stating, "The German economy is slowly emerging from stagnation, but the recovery is not self-sustaining." Weak private consumption and private investments persist due to high energy prices straining real incomes, raising production costs, and keeping inflation higher for longer.
However, market analysts were significantly more optimistic, with the index rising by 11.2 points, yet remaining in the negative territory at minus 35.9. Germany has grown for three quarters in a row, mainly boosted by exports. Consequently, the German government and leading economic research institutes have raised their growth forecast for this year to 1.3 percent, following a prediction of only around half a percent increase in the spring.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
